检查纳什维尔公立学校内ACT教育者学院项目的有效性

Nola Daley, Jill McVey, Dana Murano, and Meri Kock Introduction The ACT®test is an important indicator of students’ college readiness (Sanchez, 2024) and akey component of the postsecondary application process and of scholarship eligibility (Miranda& Sanchez, 2023). In the Nashville Public Schools (NPS), all students are required to take theACT test as part of Tennessee’s graduation requirements, and the district emphasizesintegrating ACT test preparation into its everyday classroom instruction. This focus has led tothe development of the ACT Educator Academy program: NPS designed this unique grassrootsprogram to help its educators understand and teach the skills measured by the ACT test. The ACT Educator Academy offers comprehensive training to educators from elementarythrough high school. Participants complete ACT Basics training and ACT Instructional Mastery(AIM) training and attend a regional ACT conference. They also participate in cohort meetingswith other members of the ACT Academy, receive additional resources, have opportunities toengage in networking, and create resources for their school or district. The program’s goal is toenable educators to incorporate ACT preparation into their daily teaching practices. The present study examined the impact of the ACT Educator Academy program within the NPSdistrict. In addition, this study used ACT’s efficacy framework (Mattern, 2019) to examine theefficacy of the AIM and Basics training within the context of a comprehensive program designedto enhance teachers’ knowledge of and skill in preparing students for the ACT. As defined bythis framework, efficacy is the degree to which evidence supports the claim that a program suchas the ACT Educator Academy improves outcomes as intended. The efficacy framework drawson Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016), which classifies outcomesinto four levels: Level 1: Reaction.Educators are engaged and perceive their experience as useful andrelevant. Level 2: Learning.Educators acquire targeted knowledge and skills. Level 3: Behavior.Educators apply what they have learned to their daily practices. Level 4: Results.Participating in the ACT Educator Academy leads to the desiredoutcomes. To examine each of these levels, this study aims to answer four primary research questions: 1.How do educators respond to the ACT Basics, AIM training, and ACT EducatorAcademy program overall, and are they interested in further professional developmentrelated to the ACT test? 2.Do educators perceive an increase in their knowledge of the ACT test after participatingin these trainings and the program overall?3.Do educators feel comfortable incorporating the knowledge and skills measured by theACT test in their everyday practices?4.Do educators feel comfortable sharing information about the ACT test with theircolleagues and contributing to student preparation for the ACT test? Method This research was reviewed and approved by the Human Resources Research OrganizationInstitutional Review Board review committee in July 2024 and by the NPS Research ReviewCommittee in August 2024. All participants completed informed consent forms beforeparticipating in the surveys and focus groups. Pre-Program Survey We administered a survey in September 2024, before the educators started the program.However, given the small number of responses to this survey (N= 6), this report concentratesmore on the results of the focus groups and the post-program survey. Focus Groups After the educators attended the Basics training in September, AIM trainings in October, and theSouthwest Regional ACT Conference in December 2024, they participated in virtual focusgroups in January 2025. When we held the focus groups, six participants who had consented toparticipate in research remained in the program. All six educators took part in one of two focusgroups. The purpose of these sessions was to assess the participants’ (a) reactions to theprogram, (b) perceptions of its impact, and (c) interest in further professional development. Eachfocus group included 15 questions along with several potential follow-up questions and lastedapproximately 1 hour. TheAppendixincludes the protocol for the focus groups and a list of allthe questions asked. Post-Program Survey We surveyed participants at the conclusion of the 2025 school year to assess their (a)responses to the program, (b) knowledge and awareness of the ACT test, and (c) dailypractices. This survey included four open-ended questions, eight blocks of closed questionsrated on a 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree) Likert scale (Likert items), and somedemographic items. The open-ended questions are described along with the relevant results in theOpen-Ended Questionssection, and the Likert items are presented in Figures 1–4. In earlyMay 2025, we sent this survey to current program participants and received five completedresponses. Back in October 2024, we sent the same survey to individu